Web replenishing mechanism and control system



April 9, 1940. w c sco'r'r 2,196,612

WEB REPLENJESHING MECHANISM AND QONTROL SYSTEM Filed June 11, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY April 9, 1940. w, c, sco 2,196,612

WEB REPLENIESHING mscnmxsm AND CONTROL SYS'IBM' Filed June 11, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 1940- w. c. sco'r'r.

WEB'REPLENISHING MECHANISM AND CONTROL SYSTEM Filed June ll, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR R g/fer- (f Scuff ATTORNEY April 9, 1940-. w, scon- 2,196,612

WEB REPLENISHING MECHANISM AND CONTROL SYSTEM I Filed June 11, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 59 I f 57 e4 40 65/ .4 2697 a 6.. B 51 11 49 09 W l 9 z s 6 O o I .0 63 55 o 0 J7 O i o 60 61 o 2 I 5.9

' o /l '2 g a, f 56 Z 50 56 o o 52 5 o0 51 11 Z 1 57 B INVENTOR Wail 6? ,Seoil ATTORNEY A 9, 1-940. w. c. SCOTT WEB REPLENISHING MECHANISM AND CONTROL SYSTEM Filed June 11, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 lNVENTOR lVaiier (7 5m ATTORNEY April 9, 1940. w c, 5orr 1 2,196,612

was REPLENISHING MECHANISM m con'raor. SYSTEM Filed June 11, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet e INVENTOR Walla z. 5:0

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 9, 1940 PATENT OFFICE WEB REPLENISHING MECHANISM AND CONTROL SYSTEM Walter 0. Scott, Plainfleld, N. .1.

Application June 11, 1936, Serial No. 84,679'

4 Claims. to]. 242-58) This invention relates particularly, although not for all purposes limited, to web replenishing mechanisms, such as are commonly referred to as flying pasters, in which a replenishing web roll is substituted in place of an active roll without stopping the printing or other web pulling machine that acts to unwind the web from the active roll.

The main object and feature of the invent on is to provide simple and effective means to start rotation of the replenishing roll prior to thetime that the webs of the two rolls are united, andto so coordinate the speed of the replenishing roll with that of the running web that the roll change can be effected at high speeds without undue shock to the webs.

Other objects and features of invention will appear as the specification proceeds.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and in said drawings:

Fig. l is a view in side elevation of a web supply mechanism embodying one form of the invention, but with the variable brake mechanism omitted for the sake of clearness; V

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section,

' of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but on a sectional line just inside the side frames and disclosing the variable brake mechanism; the web pulling machine, here printing cylinders, are also indicated diagrammatically;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the plane of irregular line 55 of Fig. 1;

- Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view of the tension control mechanism for the running web;

Fig. '7 is a. diagrammatic view of the electrical equipment used in connection with the energize.-

tion of the core driving motors of the web rolls;

Fig. 8 ma detail sectional view substantially on the plane of line 8-8 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view substantially on the plane of irregular line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional detail view substantially on the plane of line Hl-lll of Fig. 2; Fig. 11 is a detail view, partly broken away, looking in the direction of arrow ll of Fig. 10;

and

Fig. 12 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the plane of line I 2-! 2 of Fig. 10.

In the exemplification of the invention herein disclosed, the construction is as follows: I indicates a rotatable reel or spider having three arms 65 2 at each of the opposite sides of the machine.

Each of the pairs of opposite arms are provided with suitable means to support a web roll B, such means here taking the form of rotatable chucks 3 that engage the .core of the web roll. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lower right-hand roll is the s active roll from which running web W is being unwound by web-pulling machine here indicated by printing cylinders A; the upper roll is the replenishing roll that eventually becomes the active roll, and the lower left-hand roll is a third roll 10 that eventually becomes a replenishing roll and thereafter an active roll. Spider l is fast on shaft 4 mounted in suitable bearings, and this shaft is rotated at intervals by any convenient means such as by a handwheel or by a motor 5 15 to thereby bring the web rolls successively into operative position. Motor 5 transmits its motion to gear I on shaft 4 by transmission means 6 of any desired character. One of each pair of arms 2 carries a core-driving or boosting motor D con- 2 nected by means of a flexible connection or belt 8 to a pulley or transmission member 9 that, when the motor is energized, drives chuck 3 through an overrunning clutch. The overrunning clutch consists here of a ratchet l0 and 25 rollers 12, the ratchet being keyed to brake drum ll carried by chuck 3, and said rollers l2 resting on the teeth of the ratchet and being engaged by the interior surface of transmission member 9.

A plate 13 holds the rollers in position. The 30 overrunning clutch is provided so that, when motor D is deenergized and. the web is being unwound from the roll, the motion of the latter will not transmit motion to motor D.

The means for successively energizing motors 8 D are here constructed as follows: mounted to rotate with reel I, and here conveniently carried by gear I, are two contact or collector rings, one, ll, being a continuous ring, and the other, 15, being in the form of three sectors insulated from each other. Each motor D has one leadl'S connected to a sector I5 different from that to which any other motor D is connected, and all of the motors are connected by leads II to ring it. Mounted on the framework are two contact 01' brush members l8 and 19. that engage rings ll and I5, which are included in a circuit 20 containing a source of power 2|. Controlling this circuit is switch or circuit closer o 22' (Fig. 8), or the movable element 22a of a rheostat B (Fig. 7), of speed control mechanism 0. 23 is a hand operated switch. By these means it will be seen that only one of the three motors D, namely the one associatedwith the web roll which at the time constitutes the replenishing roll, is energized at any time.

Speed control mechanism 0 may be of any suitable type but is preferably of the construction disclosed in my application Ser. No. 60,423, flled January 23, 1936 now Patent No. 2,119,247 of May 31, 1938, the detail arrangement here being as follows: X and Y indicate two control members, one, X, being driven proportional to the speed of roller Al, and the other, Y, being driven proportional to the speed of replenishing roll B. As explained in my said application Ber. No. 60,423, by proportional" it is not intended that the control members must necessarily run at the same speed as the devices, here roller Al and replenishing roll B, from which they derive their motion. Said control members may run faster or slower than said devices, although they may, of course, also run at the same speed as the devices. Control member X is provided with a series of arcuate grooves 24 that taper from one end 25 to the other 26, and in these grooves are located balls 21. Control member Y is provided with a continuous surface 28 that engages balls 21. The two control members are rotatably mounted on a shaft 29, and at least one of said 'members, here member Y, is capable of an axial movement on shaft 29 but is normally urged toward its companion by spring 30. Referring to Fig. 8, engaging control member Y at point Yi is a control element Z that moves circuit closer 22 into open or closed position, the ar-.

rangement here being such that, when members X and Y are close together, circuit closer. 22 is ;in its closed position, and, when member Y is moved axially away from member X, circuit closer 22 is in its open position, a suitable spring 3| or other means being employed to cause control element Z to follow the axial movement of member Y. In Fig. 7, the control member is indicated at ZI and the. point of contact of the latter with Y by the designation Y2. Control members X and Y are rotated independently of each other at all times and in the same direction and the gear ratio is such that, when the proper relative speed is established between the two devices Al and B, said control members run at equal speed. So long as'the speed of control member Y runs at a speed below or equal to that of control member X, balls 21 will remain in the deep end 26 of grooves 24 and spring I! will be effective to move member Y toward member X. But so soon as the speed of Y exceeds that of X, balls 21 will advance toward shallow end 25 of grooves 24 and by their camming action against the tension of spring 30 will tend to separate members X and Y. It has been assumed here that the direction of rotation of members X and Y is as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 9 but it will be understood that the direction of rotation could be opposite to that indicated, in which event members X and Y would be separated so long, as the speed of Y does not exceed that of X. -In these circumstances, the actionof switch 22 would be the opposite from that shown. The particular transmission means here employed to drive control members X and Y are as follows:

Roller Al carries a pinion 32 meshing with pinion 33 on shaft 24, and said shaft carries a belt.

pulley 35 from which motion is transmitted by belt 36 to pulley 3! on member X. 38 indicates a roller driven at the speed, in this instance the surface speed, of replenishing roll B. Roller 3! drives a pulley 39 connected by means of belt 40 to pulley 4| on member Y. Shaft 42 which carries roller 34 and pulley II is mounted on two arms 42 that are pivotally supported on a center coincidental with that of'shaft 2| which carries control members! and Y, so that said roller 24 can be adjusted to contact, without disturbing the transmission mechanism from It to Y, the replenishing roll even if the latter is not of exact standard diameter. Also, it permits roller a and its associated elements to be moved up out of contact with the replenishing roll. a

A suitable tension control mechanism for the running web is provided, which here takesthe following form: 44 indicates a roller, carried by rockshaft 4i, and around which running web W is threaded. This rockshaft 45 carries a balancing weight 44 and is connected to plunger 41 of dashpot 44 in accordance with the well-known Jones tension construction. Each supporting means I for a web roll 3 carries a brake drum II with which is associated a brake shoe 49, and each brake shoe is actuated by a brake lever III pivotally connected to one brake shoe member at II and pivotally connected to the other brake shoe member by a link I2. Although each web roll supporting means is equipped with a variable brake mechanism, it is desired to only control the brake mechanism of the active web roll. In order to accomplish this there are provided a plurality of rockshafts 83 supported on brackets 54 on shaft 4. On each rockshaft is an actuating lever 55 carrying a roller 58 to engage its corresponding brake lever. Also mounted on each ofsaid rockshafts is an arm 51 carrying a roller 58. 59 indicates a cam to engage each roller 58 as the latter passes beneath the same, and said cam is pivotally carried by two levers 6|! that are mounted on pins ll supported on bracket l2 of the framework. Levers '60 are connected by link 63 and one of said levers is further pivotally connected to controller arm 64 which latter in turn is connected to controller roller 44 through rockshaft 45.

N is a freely rotatable backing member supported by arms 44 pivoted at 41 on a bracket of the framework and urged into its lower position by spring 68. Suitable stops 49 are provided to limit the lowermost position of 65.

when a replenishing roll or web is to be united to an active roll or web, the replenishing roll is provided with paste in a well-understood manner and reel i is turned suiilciently to bring said replenishing roll into the full line position that it occupies in Figs. 1 and 2 in which position said replenishing roll is not in engagement with backing member 68. Web'W from the active roll is running over backing member 65, roller Al, roller 44, and over various other rollers that need not be described, to the printing machine. Roller 38 is lowered into contact with the replenishing web roll, switch 23 is closed and, as the speed of memberY is at this time less than that of X, switch .22 is in its closed position. A circuit is therefore established through motor D of the replenishing roll thereby rotating the latter. Rotation of rollers Al and 3! drive control members X and Y. Motor D continues to accelerate until the speed of the replenishing roll exceeds that of active web W whereupon the axial movement of member Y actuates control element Z and opens switch 22 thus cutting of! power from motor D, allowing it to rotate due to its own momentum. It will be apparent that, if desired, switch 22 can be the movable element 22a of a rheostat R (Fig. 7) so as to merely diminish the supply of power instead of cutting it off. When the speed of Y falls below that of X switch 22 is closed by its spring and motor D is again energized. This action continues until the active web roll has run down suiilciently and the speed of the replenishing roll and the speed of the active web W are substantially alike when the operator at the proper moment turns reel I sufliciently to bring the replenishing roll against the active web at the point where it engages backing member 65, thereby uniting the two webs in a well-understood manner. Active web W can now be severed at a point below backing member 65 and the web from the replenishing roll becomes the active web. Motor D has, of course, also been cut out either manually by switch 23 or by a limit switch. The operator now turns reel I again to bring the roll past backing member 65, which latter yields, and into the position of the active roll. In addition, rotation of reel I has transferred the control exercised by roller 44 of the tension control mechanism from the previously active web roll to the new active web roll, which transfer takes place at the moment of uniting the webs.

In order to understand one of the novel concepts and interrelations that underlies the various instrumentalities described in the foregoing, it must be borne in mind that it is desired to bring the speed of the replenishing web roll-up tosubstantially that of the running web of the active web roll before the webs of the two rolls are united, to the end that the speed of the webs may be properly coordinated to thereby avoid undue shock to the webs in the act of uniting them.

As has been pointed out previously, speed control mechanism controls the speed of the replenishing roll, and said speed control mechanism is in turn controlled by the speed relationship between the replenishing roll, which drives control member Y, and roller Al which drives control member X. Roller AI can be actuated in either of two ways: it can be actuated by running web W, or it can be driven from web-pulling or printing machine A. In either event the ten sion control mechanism will play an important role and performs a novel function in that the speed of the replenishing roll is responsive, be-

fore said roll is united to the running web, both to the speed'and the tension of the running web, as will be understood from the following.

Let us first assume that roller Al is actuated by the running web. In that event, if roller Al is to accurately reflect thespeed of the runnim web, it is necessary that the tension of the running web be'maintained substantially uniform 'in order that said running web may have substantially uniform driving engagement with said roller, and this is accomplished by the action of roller. 44 and the variable brake mechanism on the active roll.

Letus now assume that roller Al is driven from the printing machine A by any suitable, transmission means such as exemplified by gear ll (Fig. 8). In that event, the speed of roller Al 1 would reflect accurately the speed'of the printing machine but it might .not for a variety of reasons reflect accurately the speedof the running-webunlessthetensionoftherunningwebls controlled; for instance the active web roll might active roll, the web of which is threaded into a machine that unwinds the web from the roll, and a driven replenishing roll the web of which is to be united to'the running web of the active roll; two independently rotating control members, mounted coaxially and at least one of which is movable lengthwise of its axis toward and away from the other, said members rotating in the same direction, one driven at a speed proportional to the speed of the running web, and the other driven at a speed proportional to the speed of the replenishing roll; and means responsive to a variation in speed between the two control members to vary the speed of the replenishing roll.

2. In a web replenishing mechanism having an active roll, the web of which is threaded into a machine that unwinds the web from the roll, and a driven replenishing roll the web of which is to be united to the running web of the active roll; two independently rotating control members,

mounted coaxially and at least one of which is 'movable lengthwise of its axis toward and away from the other, said members rotating in the same direction, one driven at a speed proportional to the speed of the running web, and the other driven at a speed proportional to the surface speed of the replenishing roll; and means responsive to a variation in speed between the two'control members to vary the speed of the replenishing roll.

3. In a web replenishing mechanism having an active roll, the web of which is threaded into a machine that unwinds the web from the roll, and a replenishing roll, the web of which is to be united-to the running web of the active roll; actuating means, other than therunning web, to drive the replenishing roll; two independently rotating control members, mounted coaxially and at least one, of which is movable lengthwise of its axis toward and away from the other, said members rotating in the same direction, one driven at a speed proportional to the speed of the running web, and the other driven at a speed proportional to the speed of the replenishing roll; and means responsive to a variation in speed bee tween the two control members to vary the speed of the actuating means for the replenishing roll.

4. The method of controlling the replenishing roll of a web replenishing mechanism having an active roll the web of whichis threaded into a machine that unwinds the web from the roll, and a driven replenishing roll the web of which is to be united to the running web of the active roll, which consists in: accelerating the speed of the replenishing roll above the desired uniting speed and then allowing said replenishing roll to continue rotation due solely to itsown momentum at a gradually decelerating speed before uniting the webs of the two rolls.

. WALTER C. SCO'IT. 

